A Simple Gift
by Neopuff
Summary: James didn't realize that Valentine's Day can be for "just friends", too, and uses Meowth's help to find the perfect gift for Jessie. Jessie/James Musashi/Kojiro Rocketshipping


"Hey Jim, you know what today is, don'cha?" Meowth asked while walking slowly into the kitchen. He sniffed the air and rubbed his stomach, glad that at least _someone_ on their team knew how to cook.

James turned away from the frying pan and raised an eyebrow at his feline partner. "...what today is?"

Another raised eyebrow was his reply. "Youse really don't know?"

The blue-haired man leaned against the stove and pressed a hand to his chin. "Today is...February the fourteenth..."

"Uh-huh."

"February the fourteenth..."

"You gotta be kiddin' me."

"What? Is it important?"

Meowth slapped a paw to his face and pointed to the calendar hanging right behind James. The man smiled sheepishly as he pointed to the text while reading it. "Valentine's Day. Oh. So what?"

The pokemon rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I dunno, I just figured you might be doin' something, bein' the ladies man you are."

James blushed slightly and turned back to Meowth, pointing at his face. "That may be true, but in case you haven't noticed, Meowth, I'm happily single."

"Well, are you doin' somethin' with Jess, then?" Meowth asked innocently. He honestly did not see any harm in the question, where James seemed to take great offense. The man jumped as if he'd been electrocuted and glared at the cat.

"What are you implying?! Why would I do anything with Jessie on Valentine's Day?!" he shouted a _little_ too loud for comfort.

Meowth cowered underneath him, being used to a smack after a shout, but then remembered this was James, not Jessie. He looked up at the man's (unintentionally) red face and laughed. "Geez, Jim, I didn't mean anythin' like that! Youse the one makin' a big deal outta it! Valentine's Day doesn't hafta be _romantic_, y'know. It can just be between friends." James blinked twice in embarrassment, making the cat laugh harder.

"Really? ...is she going to expect something from me?" James asked worriedly. If Jessie expected something, and he did not give her anything...he'd have her wrath to deal with. That was not something he was looking forward to.

"Huh?" Meowth cocked his head to the side.

"You said Valentine's Day doesn't have to be romantic. Does Jessie know that? Does she think I'll have a present for her?" he asked quickly.

"Uh...maybe?" Meowth had no idea. "It probably wouldn't hurt to get her somethin'."

James mind went into a state of panic as he rushed back to his room. Meowth turned off the stove and followed, wishing he could've shut up and waited for the human to finish cooking before telling him about V-Day. When he arrived at James' door, he sighed audibly at the mess the man was making. James was looking through multiple boxes to find something he could give Jessie that she would not think was total trash.

James pulled at his hair in a panic. "This could be as bad as her birthday last year...augh! I need to find something!" He dove into another box, finding absolutely nothing he could use. Turning towards Meowth angrily, he screeched, "Be useful! Do you have any suggestions?!"

Meowth raised an eyebrow again. He could not deny how...odd James always was. This was not any stranger than normal but his comparison of forgetting Valentine's Day to forgetting Jessie's birthday was a definite exaggeration. "Uh...why not go for somethin' simple?"

James perked his head up from its' place in yet _another_ random box. "Simple?" He paused in contemplation. "Yeah. Simple. That sounds good..." He paused again and placed a pointer finger to his temple. "A simple present? Like...like what?"

"I dunno. Flowers?" Meowth had to admit he was not really paying attention to what he was saying, he just wanted James to stop being weird. Like that could ever happen, unfortunately.

"Flowers? Oh! I've got tons of roses!" A smile appeared on James' face and he shoved his arm into a box labeled "Motto Stuff".

Meowth's eyes bugged out of his head. "R-roses?" Did James not realize that roses are one of the _least_ platonic gifts you can give a girl on Valentine's Day? Especially since the only ones the man carried around were red and white.

"Yeah...why? What's wrong with that?" James asked.

Meowth smirked slightly and bit his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing. Originally he'd been in the mood to help his friend, but when the opportunity arises, well, you can't let something like this slip. "Nothin', I was just thinkin' how much Jess loves roses and that that's the _perfect_ idea."

James beamed. "Sweet! Then she won't kill me!" James grabbed one rose and stared at it. "This one looks good."

"Uh, Jim..." Meowth told himself he would not do anything else, but he could not help it. "Ya might wanna spring for _more_ than just one flower."

James thought about this for a second before nodding. "Good point. Man, is she gonna be surprised when she finds out I remembered!"

Meowth chuckled and walked out of the room. "Yeah, she'll definitely be surprised."

As the feline headed out the door, James turned around and glared at the direction he'd just headed in. "He thinks the King of Roses doesn't know what they represent? Please, Meowth, give me some credit."

--

Jessie was standing on the porch outside their cabin, staring into the sky. "It's such a beautiful day...if only I had a _date_ to take me out! Argh!" She slammed her forehead against the railing, regretting it immediately afterwards because of her new headache. "...I hate Valentine's Day."

"Hey Jessie?"

She turned around in surprise to see James walking towards him, one hand behind his back. "...what's up, James?"

"Uh, so..." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Originally he'd planned on coming up with a little rhyme or something to add to the present, but since it was a "simple" gift, it should come with a simple greeting. He pulled the bunch of roses out from behind his back and smiled bigger than ever. "Happy Valentine's Day, Jess!"

She blinked at him before gazing downwards at the bouquet in his hands. Her eyebrows shot into the atmosphere when she saw the collection of yellow roses. Her face reddened slightly and she stood agape. "...wha...?"

James nervously pushed the flowers closer to her. "These are for you!"

Jessie could not believe what she was seeing. James, who had managed to forget her _birthday_ last year, still remembered Valentine's Day? "I...uh...wow," she replied, delicately petting a few of the roses' petals.

He smiled even bigger. She was not angry! She just looked surprised and happy! He was going to live to see another day! But she _did_ look embarrassed. She probably did not know that different rose colors meant different things. "See, I used yellow roses because they represent-"

"...friendship, I know how it goes, James," she interrupted. She'd admit she knew less about the plant than her male partner, but she did know a lot about them anyways. She'd only been blushing because she had not expected him to get her _anything_, let alone flowers. "Thanks, James. I didn't get you anything...but..." She hesitated for a second before stepping closer to him and placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Let's just pretend that's good enough."

James' eyes widened and he blushed slightly, but just smiled back at her. "Works for me!" He walked a little too quickly back into the kitchen he'd been in only an hour ago, suddenly realizing he'd forgotten to turn the stove off. He sighed with relief when he saw that Meowth had turned it off for him.

Jessie smiled innocently and fingered through the roses, happy that James cheered her up when he did not even know she was feeling down. She let out a small gasp when she found a little surprise in the midst of all the yellow. She picked it up and reddened, knowing full well that James knew what it meant.

"A single red rose, huh?" She smirked and put it back with the others, not realizing she was blushing heavily. "God, he's so cheesy."

----

Heehee, happy Valentine's Day! Originally I was gonna have one of the yellow flowers be a yellow with red tips, which shows friendship turning into love, but not everyone knows that. Actually, does everyone know that a single red rose means, "I love you"? I guess I shouldn't assume. SO it does mean that. Yep!


End file.
